[dragoneyes]

Hob opened the door of his home and was immediately hit by a wall of warmth, into which he gladly stepped. His father was sitting in a chair next to the roaring fire, quietly talking to his wife whom he was sitting opposite. Hob could only see his mother's hand on the arm rest of the chair and some curly greying hair over the top of the back of the chair. 'Ignore the colour' Hob thought to himself, his mother's skin was far too pale, 'And she's really not that bony.' Unfortunately for him, he could think that all he wanted but still not be able to ignore the fact that it was not the truth, she was far too skinny for a hobbit, or any other creature. His father jumped up from his seat to welcome his son in, grinning like a child who has found a penny.

"You're back! What did they say? What's happening?" Hob smiled innocently at his father.

"But daddy darling, surely you already know?" Hob was given a look that told him, no, his father didn't know. "I really am at a loss as to how you knew about that meeting in the first place. You come bursting in here telling me to get myself to that hole and lo and behold there's some sort of meeting there."

"Well, you know your father." Said Lilly, Hob's Mother, "He's better at picking up information than even the most practiced vilage gossips." her husband waved a dismissive hand at her and turned back to their son, nearly bouncing with excitement, he had always wanted to go on an adventure when he was a young boy and was anxious that his son got to enjoy such an opportunity, though he knew Hob's reason for going was soley to help the rest of the Shire.

"So, come along, what was said? What's going on?"

"Well," started Hob, "I have some good news, we aren't going-"

"Aren't going!" cried his father in disbelief. "How can you not be going? The Shire will starve! You cannot back out now! You just march yourself right back down there and tell them that you will all HAVE to go!" He began pushing his son back out of the door.

"But dad-" Protested Hob.

"No no no! Don't you 'but dad' me! I will not have you backing out, we need food son, if you hadn't noticed!" Hob pushed his father away, a little harder than he would usually and sent him stumbling backwards.

"Dad, I KNOW! You didn't let me finish! We are not going to Rivendell, we are going to Bree instead so we shall hopefully be quicker and there should be less dangers!" There was a short silence following, during which Hob's father gained a slight pink tinge around his cheeks. After an apology Hob smiled amusedly and shut the door. He took his coat off and hung it on a peg, where the snow began to melt and gather in a puddle on the floor.

Hob walked into the kitchen where some attempts at dinner had been made, but were mostly abandoned, probably due to a particularly hard coughing fit on his mother's part. He found a bowl of runner beans and picked up a handful, they were old and tough and uncooked, but they were better than the apples. He wandered back into the living room and sat down in the chair recently vacated by his father.

"Oh Hob, what are you eating?" asked Lilly in an exhasperated manner.

"Beans." Said Hob simply, showing them to her. "I'm not going to wait around for you to cook them if they're perfectly edible anyway.

"Strange child." said Lilly "You never were satisfied with what was put on the table, always wanted more!"

"I don't seem to remember you ever complaining."

"I'd rather a ball of lard for a son than a skeleton."

"Well, a ball of lard is what you got. Well done." said Hob, patting his still slightly rounded belly. Lilly smiled at her son, who laughed back.

"You've done a lot today Hob what with all your wood cutting and walking and talking and what-have-you, you should go relax."

"A very good idea." he said, "Dad!" he yelled at his father who was in a different room, "I'm going to have a bath!"

"Don't use too many logs for your fire! You shouldn't have a bath too often you know!" came the answering voice.

"This is the first time in two and a half weeks!" Hob shouted back.

"So that was the smell!" Hob rolled his eyes. As predictable as it was, Hob would miss his dad's humour.

Lilly watched her son leave for the bathroom. He seemed so happy at home, but around other people he was so quiet, people seemed to steer clear of him, as though he carried some kind of disease. Perhaps the journey would help him to make friends again, because he'd not always been as secluded as he now was. He knew how to make friends, he just wouldn't and it annoyed Lilly to see that her son was doing that to himself. She'd take him out to see other hobbits if only she didn't have that damn illness. As if it knew what she was thinking, her cough attacked with violence, her whole body was convulsing and her throat was being rubbed raw. Her husband rushed in to help her, but the fit had already passed. He rubbed her back in soothing circles and she smiled at him.

"Better?" He asked, his voice stringed with worry for her.

"Yes, thank you, a drink would be nice though." She watched her husband hurry into the kitchen with a frown, she might not make it, by the time Hob came back with the food and medicine and everything else she needed, it might already be too late. But she decided she shouldn't let that worry her. What would happen would happen and she was in no place to stop it.